Or could it maybe possibly be a little of both? My local gas station is selling gas for $1.89 a gallon, which is incredibly cheap. Here's a superficial analysis -- off the top of my head -- of why cheap gas is both good and bad, now and in the future, for people in America (and people across the world). There are several ways to think about it. Several angles. Consider the following arguments, to be found under the shining orange natural gas flare fire.
Here are several ways of looking at the question, "Is cheap gas good or bad?"
GOOD: For Poor People in America
If you're paid minimum wage or slightly more and maybe you drive 20 or 30 miles each way to your crappy job, you have to put gas in your car, just to get to work. High gas prices hurt you because you then cut back on other things, like healthy food. Lower-priced gas means you can spend money on paying various other bills. Plus it costs less to heat your home. Maybe you can even save up some money for the future. I consider myself relatively poor and I sort of like the lower price of gas. On the other hand...
BAD: For the Environment (Global Climate Change)
Short version: If gas is cheap, people buy and burn more gas. We put more carbon in the air and that accelerates climate change (aka global warming). Also, I've seen several reports that Americans are buying gas guzzlers again. Here's just one article: Gas hits $2.67 a gallon and America celebrates by buying gas-thirsty SUVs and trucks. I don't think this is a good thing. Gas hogs are bad.
GOOD: For the Environment (An Alternative Point of View)
With gas prices so low, it may not profitable to keep running the horrible tar sands fields in Alberta, Canada, and the fracking fields (slightly less horrible) in North Dakota and Pennsylvania and Texas and elsewhere. And if the tar sands companies and fracking companies shut down (or if they cut back), it might not make sense to build the XL pipeline -- not because it's wrong but because it would be unprofitable. In 2015. And the companies that provide housing (aka "man camps") for the oil workers are cutting back. Here's just one article about that: Hedge Fund Cuts Its Losses in ‘Man Camp’ Provider. They know that they don't need to build more man camps for oil workers.
BAD: For Republicans
I remember in 2014 I saw several stories that said if Obama was re-elected gas would go up to $6 a gallon. Because they said the President of the U.S. was an evil Kenyan socialist from Satan. Or whatever. Now that we have cheap gas, no Republicans are giving credit to Obama, because he's to blame for bad things but doesn't get credit for good things. But another way that cheap gas hurts Republicans is that the states that have oil wells (like Texas, North Dakota, and Alaska), may face major economic problems. And they're mostly Republican states. So that's OK with me if Republicans get fingered by the invisible hand of the market.
GOOD: For the U.S. Economy
After six years of economic problems, things seem to be turning up. After Bill Clinton balanced the budget and GW Bush took over, the economy was in decent shape. Then Bush cut taxes (and foolishly gave people a rebate on their taxes). Then he started two wars without paying for them. Then the whole economy crashed at the end of Bush's eight years in office (because of the mortgage crisis). Bush was an economic disaster. So Obama passed Obamacare and a stimulus package. And with gas prices being low, the economy is digging itself out of the hole dug by Bush and his cronies. The deficit is going down. Inflation isn't a problem (thanks to low gas prices). Unemployment is gradually decreasing. And so on.
BAD: For Alternative Energy Sources
I suppose I could have mentioned this in the environmental sections. But if gas is cheap, it means people won't look at electric cars or solar energy or wind energy or hydroelectric or other alternative sources of power. In the future, the price of gas and oil will inevitably go up. And when it's more expensive, people will investigate alternative energy sources (which don't spew carbon into the air). But cheap gas just pushes that decision into the future. Which is unfortunate.
GOOD: Because it Hurts Countries We Don't Like
Iran, Venezuela, Russia may face pain from cratering oil prices. Those are three countries we're not very friendly with, at least now in 2015. And here's something from that article:
Venezuela, already facing serious fiscal woes and rampant inflation, needs oil at $151 a barrel next year to balance its budget, according to the data.
Iran, which has yet to agree to curb development of nuclear weapons and heavily subsidizes gasoline for its citizens, needs oil at $131 a barrel.
And Russia, whose seizure of Crimea and continuing aggression towards Ukraine has raised tensions throughout Europe and inspired western financial sanctions, needs oil at $107 for a chance of getting its finances in order.
Based on Citi’s research, Libya looks as if it could be facing a serious fiscal hole, with its breakeven for 2015 at $315.
Libya is in trouble. They're fucked. So extremely low oil prices hurt three countries the U.S. isn't very friendly with for various reasons (Venezuela, Iran, and Russia). And, in terms of foreign policy, I think
Saudi Arabia is going along with our point of view because low oil prices hurt
ISIS (aka ISIL). And I think both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia dislike Bashar al-Assad in
Syria (and if Russia doesn't have money from oil, maybe they won't support Syria).
Nigeria gets a lot of money from oil, so the lower price will hurt them in their fight against
Boko Haram, but I don't care about that. Nigeria is a corrupt government fighting against extremely nasty rebels. I'm not sure which side I'm cheering for.
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So that's why I'm both happy and sad about lower gas prices.